Mendocino Transit's General Manager Bruce Richard retires after 31 years

Mendocino Transit Authority General Manager Bruce Richard retired Dec. 28, after a 31-year career with MTA. He was the guest of honor that day at a luncheon at MTA's facility in Ukiah, and also attended an MTA board of directors meeting.

Richard began his career as MTA's fourth general manager in 1981, having come to MTA from the Golden Gate Bridge District, where he worked as a senior planner. When he started with the agency, he inherited a fleet of old vehicles. MTA had a mix of four different types of buses and several kinds of vans.

The fleet consisted of five Air Stream Argosy buses, with more than 200,000 miles each, 11 vans and three Twin Coaches. The first two Gillig Transit buses ever built (circa 1979) were also in the fleet. One coach had been in the shop for three months waiting for a part.

Under his guidance, the aging fleet was replaced with five 35-40 passenger, heavy-duty, used GM diesel buses which MTA rebuilt. From 1996 through 1999, as a result of piecing together several funding sources, the fleet was transformed from the oldest in the state to one of the newest by acquiring nine new Gillig Phantoms.

Today, MTA boasts 49 vehicles, including paratransit vehicles, large vans and 30-40 foot passenger buses. Richard also led the agency in purchasing hybrid and electric vehicles as they became more affordable, anticipating that they will appropriately fill MTA's future transportation needs. MTA currently operates two hybrid buses, one electric staff vehicle and three hybrid staff vehicles.

When Richard started with MTA, the agency shared office facilities and a shop with the Mendocino County Office of Education on Mill Creek Road in Talmage. As MTA started to add service, vehicles and employees, it was evident that it would soon outgrow the space.

In 1982, Richard spearheaded purchase of a 3.5-acre site, installed fuel storage tanks, remodeled existing office and shop buildings and rearranged services to fit the new location in south Ukiah. MTA also has a large facility in Fort Bragg that houses the fleet for the North Mendocino Coast services, a conference room and staff facilities.

Additionally, MTA has facilities in Willits and Point Arena.

More recently, MTA has received three separate federal stimulus grants totaling $6.1 million to replace seven buses and has built a state-of-the-art, solar-powered maintenance facility. As a small rural transit operator, it is unusual to receive funding of this magnitude directly from the Federal Transit Administration. Because of Richard's grant writing skills, MTA has received more than $12 million in competitive state and federal grant funds over the past 14 years, which have improved MTA's services, vehicles and property.

At the beginning of his career with MTA, the agency operated fixed routes that could have been described as "lifeline service" and two Dial-A-Ride services. The system achieved an annual ridership of 77,609 people.

Today, MTA operates nine fixed bus routes running five to seven days (one of which runs trips every 30 minutes), two Dial-A- Ride services and one flex route. The ridership has increased to 401,000 trips per year in a county of 90,000 residents.

In addition to managing a transit agency, Richard worked within the transit industry to improve conditions for rural transit operators. He was elected to the Executive Committee of the California Transit Association in 1985, and served on the Legislative Committee for that organization. He has also served as the chairman of its Small Operators Committee.

As one of the 14 transit managers working with CTA, he was instrumental in the formation of California Transit Insurance Pool (CalTip) to provide stable, reliable liability insurance. Additionally, he served as chairman of the Underwriting and Safety Committee for the first two years. In 2011, Richard was honored by his peers at California Transit Association's annual fall conference as the recipient of the Transit Leadership Award for an outstanding individual who has provided strong leadership and vision to a small operator.

Richard was presented the award at the annual Small Operators Luncheon by the committee chairman, Kevin Kane of Victor Valley Transit, and MTA's chairman and CTA Executive Committee member, Jim Mastin, who stated, "Bruce has led the Mendocino Transit Authority with vision, courage and leadership. This award is recognition by his peers of his work and spotlights the MTA as a well-run, forward-looking agency."

Richard has worked with many local agencies, including Mendocino Works, Mendocino Council of Governments, city of Ukiah's Growth Management Steering Committee, the county of Mendocino and the cities of Ukiah, Fort Bragg, Willits and Point Arena, to improve transit operations within Mendocino County.

"No one would stay 31 years on a job," Richard stresses, "without a progressive, intelligent board of directors and 60 other employees who are professional and care about our passengers and the work we do here."

Richard has a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering from the University of California, Davis, and an MBA in Urban Transportation Management from UC Berkeley.